Illuminated gazebo

ABSTRACT

A structure including a gazebo including a plurality of vertical structural elements and partial walls constructed between adjacent vertical structural elements, and a roof constructed of roof slats that extend from a central hub situated at an apex of the roof, at least one solar powered light attached to the gazebo, and a solar collector and cell assembly for powering the at least one solar powered light.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to gazeboes, and particularly to an illuminated gazebo.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

By definition, a gazebo is meant to be a “gazing room”, an isolated structure intended to offer a panoramic view of the surrounding area. A gazebo may be in the form of a small lookout tower or summerhouse with a view, usually in a garden or park, but sometimes on the porch or roof of a house. Outdoor structures for dining and entertainment, or ornamental garden pavilions designed to let in light and air, are also called gazeboes. Throughout the specification and claims herein, the term gazebo encompasses any of the aforementioned or similar structures and is used herein interchangeably with the words belvedere and pavilion.

Lighting for gazeboes generally consists of standard incandescent or fluorescent light fixtures affixed to the underside of the gazebo roof, just as in an ordinary house or shed. Strings of outdoor party lights, such as globe spheres have also been used to decorate and illuminate gazeboes, just as in porches and patios, or party tents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an improved gazebo with lighting, such as solar lighting, as described more in detail hereinbelow. The gazebo may be

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a structure including a gazebo including a plurality of vertical structural elements and partial walls constructed between adjacent vertical structural elements, and a roof constructed of roof slats that extend from a central hub situated at an apex of the roof, at least one solar powered light attached to the gazebo, and a solar collector and cell assembly for powering the at least one solar powered light.

The solar powered lights may include LED lights, e.g., with changing colors. The solar powered lights may be positioned anywhere in the gazebo, such as along vertical structural elements, partial walls, roof slats or at the hub. The solar collector and cell assembly may be assembled on top of the hub.

An extra battery compartment may be provided for storing therein a dry battery and/or rechargeable battery for powering the solar powered lights. A wind-powered generator may be provided for powering the lights.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGS. 1-4 are simplified perspective, side view, top view and bottom view (of the roof) illustrations, respectively, of a gazebo, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1-4, which illustrate a gazebo 10, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The gazebo 10 may include vertical structural elements 12, such as but not limited to, posts, poles, beams and the like, of any cross-sectional shape and size. The vertical structural elements 12 will be referred to as posts 12. Partial walls 14 may be constructed between adjacent posts 12, comprising rails, pickets, spindles, poles and the like, of any cross-sectional shape and size. Partial walls 14 will also be referred to as vertical rails 14. The vertical rails 14 may be fitted in upper horizontal cross-pieces or handrails 16 and lower cross-pieces 18. Posts 12 may be seated in foot elements 20, or may alternatively be mounted on a deck (not shown). Two adjacent posts 12 may be left without a partial wall 14 therebetween so as to define an opening 22 (FIG. 1) for entering and exiting the gazebo 10.

Gazebo 10 may have a roof 24, which may be slanted, pagoda-style or any other style, and may optionally have a cupola or finial at its apex (not shown). In the non-limiting illustrated embodiment, roof 24 is constructed of roof slats 26 that extend from a central hub 28 situated at the apex of roof 24, with roofing material 30 between roof slats 26, such as but not limited to, a soft material, e.g., canvas, or a hard material, e.g., redwood. Gazebo 10 may be installed on any suitable surface, such as but not limited to, concrete, wood flooring, grass, roof, garden, yard, etc.

The building materials for constructing gazebo 10 may be selected from any suitable material, such as but not limited to, plastic, wood, metal or any combination thereof. Posts 12 and rails 14 may be formed, for example without limitation, by injection molding, extrusion, machining, etc. Gazebo 10 may have any shape, such as but not limited to, round, square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, octagonal, etc.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, gazebo 10 is equipped with one or more solar powered lights 32. A particularly suitable light 32 is a lamp strip assembly described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/084,156, filed Mar. 21, 2005, to the same inventor as the present invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the lamp strip assembly may include an elongate housing in which one or more lamp sets may be mounted. (“Elongate” means having a length longer than the width, preferably but not necessarily at least twice as long than the width.) Each lamp set includes a lamp and an elongate reflector. The elongate reflector may include a curved reflective portion adapted to reflect light rays from the lamp through a light transmissive element of the elongate housing. The light transmissive element may be transparent or translucent (or anything between), and may have any size and color. The curved reflective portion may be white and concavely curved with respect to lamp.

The solar powered lights 32 may include, without limitation, LEDs or incandescent lights, and may have any size and color. In the case of LEDs, the LEDs may be of any size, mcd rating, and color (e.g., white, red, green, blue, yellow or other non-white colors, or a RGB (red, green, blue) changing LED, or any combination thereof). “White” is defined as the color that has no or little hue, due to the reflection of all or almost all incident light. “White” in the specification and claims encompasses, bright white, “dirty” white, off-white, gray-white, snow white, hard-boiled-egg white and other shades of white. The colors of the lights may be programmed to change at predefined or random intervals, providing stunning lighting effects.

The solar powered lights 32 may be positioned anywhere in the gazebo 10, and at any attitude (vertical, horizontal, angled and any combination thereof). Preferred positions include along (outside, inside or any combination thereof) the poles 12, rails 14, roof slats 26, handrails 16 and lower cross-pieces 18, and any combination thereof. Solar powered lights 34 (FIG. 4) may be provided in the form of LED light bulbs (solar powered) affixed to the underside or topside of hub 28. A solar collector and cell assembly 36 may be assembled on top of hub 28 for powering the lights 32 (and 34). The solar collector and cell assembly 36 may store power during daylight hours for powering the lights at nighttime. This makes gazebo 10 independent of AC electrical power sources. In addition, gazebo 10 may optionally include an extra battery compartment 38 with dry or rechargeable batteries, for example. In this manner, the user may illuminate gazebo 10 when there is not enough solar power. Alternatively, an adaptor may be provided for connection to AC power. The extra battery compartment 38 may be place at one of the poles 12 (as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2) or near the hub 28 (as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4).

As another option, gazebo 10 may include a fan 40 mounted on the underside of hub 28 (as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4) for providing ventilation. Fan 40 would be powered in the same manner as the lights. The ventilation fan 40 may be combined as one assembly with lights 34. Other electrical devices may be provided with gazebo 10, such as but not limited to, radio, CD player, MP3 player, flash memory devices, etc., which may be powered by the same power source for the lights and fan. A remote control (not shown) may also be provided for operating the devices.

As yet another option, gazebo 10 may include a wind-powered generator 42 on top of hub 28 (as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2) for powering the lights and/for recharging rechargeable batteries. The wind-powered generator 42 may include a vane (like a weathervane) that turns a dynamo to generate and store electrical power. Accordingly, all the electrical devices in gazebo 10 may be powered by solar cells, wind-powered dynamo and/or powered by AC outlets.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art. 

1. A structure comprising: a gazebo comprising a plurality of vertical structural elements and partial walls constructed between adjacent vertical structural elements, and a roof constructed of roof slats that extend from a central hub situated at an apex of said roof; at least one solar powered light attached to said gazebo, and a solar collector and cell assembly for powering said at least one solar powered light.
 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one solar powered light comprises an LED light.
 3. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one solar powered light comprises an LED light with changing colors.
 4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one solar powered light is positioned along at least one of said vertical structural elements.
 5. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one solar powered light is positioned along at least one of said partial walls.
 6. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one solar powered light is positioned along at least one of said roof slats.
 7. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one solar powered light is positioned at said hub.
 8. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said solar collector and cell assembly is assembled on top of said hub.
 9. The structure according to claim 1, further comprising an extra battery compartment adapted to store therein at least one of a dry battery and a rechargeable battery for powering said at least one solar powered light.
 10. The structure according to claim 1, further comprising a fan mounted underneath said hub.
 11. The structure according to claim 1, further comprising a wind-powered generator for powering said at least one solar powered light. 